


The Arrangement

by FrivolousSuits



Category: Suits (US TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Sugar Daddy, Courtship, Harvey Works in the Mailroom, M/M, Mike Is a Junior Partner, Role Reversal, Sugar Baby Harvey, Sugar Daddy Mike
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-26
Updated: 2018-04-26
Packaged: 2019-04-28 07:10:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14444070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrivolousSuits/pseuds/FrivolousSuits
Summary: "Mike would so pick up an accidental sugar baby."  -statusquo_ergo





	The Arrangement

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the "Back Where You Belong" Marvey event. The prompt is the title of 3x01, "The Arrangement."

The first time Mike pays, he’s just being polite.

A kid from the mailroom knocks on his office door to alert him about a discrepancy in the firm records. He hands over a backdated letter, and Mike scans it and instantly understands the issue.

“This is a great catch . . .” Mike trails off, looking up at him.

“The name’s Harvey Specter.”

“Well, Harvey, I promise I’ll take care of this.”

“He’s been cutting corners for months,” Harvey adds.

Mike frowns. “He has?”

“That’s the rumor,” Harvey replies promptly. “The paralegals caught him mislabeling files in discovery. He pulled rank because he’s a senior associate, so they didn’t report it, which is why I came straight to you.”

That’s . . . surprisingly shrewd, and Mike’s struck speechless.

“I’ll leave you to it.”

Harvey turns to go, but before he reaches the door Mike recovers his voice. “Can I take you out to coffee?”

It’s normal to ask people out for coffee, just as a matter of professional networking. In Mike’s experience it’s usually the subordinate who initiates, in the hopes of gaining advice and connections and favors from someone higher on the food chain, but Mike’s not opposed to flipping the norm. He’s typically a generous person, and there’s something about this kid specifically that makes Mike want to, to–

To give him things.

Harvey immediately accepts, and they go out for coffee, where Mike learns that Harvey makes for excellent company. He’s young and– in Mike’s professional legal opinion– unfairly handsome, but more importantly he’s smart and shockingly well-informed. Since they’re in public, they never mention Pearson-Hardman, instead discussing other firms’ cases that have made it into the press. Mike delves into the legal minutiae, explaining how he’d craft a strategy, which arguments he’d choose, and Harvey eagerly follows him down, asking insightful questions about procedure and precedent. In turn, Harvey makes high-level psychological conjectures about who’s aiming for what and why, achieving eerily detailed insights, giving plausible answers to questions that had previously stumped Mike.

Harvey does it all in style, with blunt jokes and clever allusions. When Mike catches a _Mississippi Burning_ reference and responds with one of his own, Harvey’s eyes light up, and they end up sprinkling quotes into every line they can without ever deigning to say they’re doing it.

Mike pays for the coffee because it’s mildly overpriced, because he’s a junior partner and Harvey’s just a kid from the mailroom, because Mike’s the one who invited him in the first place.

It’s the polite thing to do.

* * *

The second time Mike pays, it’s just the nice thing to do.

He can’t get Harvey out of his head. There are plenty of other whip-smart people running around the firm, but most of them are too busy with work and office intrigue for an intelligent conversation, or they’re too tired, or they’re too calculating to ever say what they think. For one reason or another, Mike can’t find a real match for his intellect, someone who can entertain and challenge him all at once. There’s no one for the role except a kid in the mailroom.

So Mike discreetly checks the by-laws and the firm anti-harassment policies, and he finds that while he is strictly banned from conducting any sort of relationship with permanent employees, such as paralegals, secretaries, or other lawyers, other auxiliary staff have a more temporary status and are fair game.

“Fair game” sounds unsavory, predatory, and he takes a moment to scold himself before formulating his strategy.

He soon finds his way down to the mailroom.

Harvey’s there alone, hard at work, efficiently sorting packages into stacks. Like all the men in the office, he’s in a button-down shirt and slacks, but his cuffs are rolled up, and he’s got no tie, and the first couple buttons are undone. It’s the undone buttons that steal Mike’s carefully crafted speech out of his mouth. “Um.“

Harvey whips around, and Mike forces himself back on track. “I was wondering if you would like to have dinner with me, bu–“

“Sure,” Harvey interrupts.

Mike snaps his mouth shut and then tries again. “I wanted to specify that you are under no obligation–"

“I know.”

“But to be clear, if you don’t want to, there wouldn’t be any sort of reprisal–"

“Where are you taking me?”

“Per Se tomorrow, I’ll let you know the time?” He names the first restaurant that comes to mind; the tasting menus are always excellent, and he’s signed every client he’s taken there.

Harvey’s eyes flash with recognition. “I’ll be there.”

Mike asks his omnipotent secretary Donna to handle the reservation, perhaps intimating that it’s for a selective business client, and somehow she gets a table for 8:30 in fifteen minutes flat. As soon as he gives his credit card number to secure the reservation he realizes that Per Se is perhaps not the best choice.

The tasting menu costs over three hundred dollars per person.

He can’t possibly expect Harvey to pay or even split the bill, it’d be terribly improper and cruel. And so after an exquisite dinner where they discuss movies and sports and Harvey’s classes– turns out he’s entering Columbia Law in the fall and working over the summer to lessen the crush of the loans– Mike smoothly takes the bill from the waiter. As he slides his black card into the leather check holder, Harvey smiles, his eyes sparkling.

Harvey’s got the same sparkle in his eyes when they head outside again, and Mike calls him a cab and hands the fare to the driver, and Harvey kisses him, slowly, deliberately, before stepping in.

* * *

Mike resolves to hold himself back, to keep from asking for more than Harvey wants to give. When he slips down to the mailroom the very next day, he stays alert for any sign that Harvey wants to be left alone. Yet Harvey grins at him as soon as he enters.

“How can I help you, Mr. Ross?”

Oh, right. He’s “Mr. Ross” in the mailroom, a junior partner among near-teens, and for some reason that he ought to inspect more closely the title gives him a thrill.

He lowers his voice for the sake of discretion. “I was wondering what you thought of last night.”

“I enjoyed it,” Harvey murmurs back, pretending to sort a set of envelopes. “The taste was superb.”

He glances up with a brief knowing smirk, and Mike breathes in sharply. “I want to reiterate that you are under no obligation to say yes, but what–"

“Hey, Harvey–" the other mailroom worker interrupts– “who needs the Roth files again?”

“Run it to Norma’s desk in the next two minutes or Louis Litt will stab you,” Harvey replies at once, smiling pleasantly.

The girl turns pale and scurries out, clutching a manila envelope to her chest. As soon as she leaves, Harvey turns back to Mike. “So, what do you want from me?”

Mike intends to tell him how just down the block, there’s a sandwich place with the best subs where you can eat a full meal for under ten dollars, and would Harvey perhaps have lunch with him, if and only if he’s willing?

What he says is, “What are you willing to give me?”

No, no, no, he hates the words as soon as he says them, as they hang in the air, as Harvey stares at him, eyes widening, darkening. Mike’s about to stammer an apology when he answers, “Everything.”

* * *

Mike knows “everything” doesn’t mean “everything,” so he tries to remain attentive to any sign of discomfort on Harvey’s part, only to find none. Harvey’s enthusiastic, energetic, apparently just as attentive to what Mike wants, and what Mike wants–

He gets it, in his bed, against his floor-to-ceiling windows, on his kitchen counter, on his couch after several tense rounds of strip poker, and on one extraordinary occasion in the firm file room, which Donna mentioned for no apparent reason just got locks installed on the doors. Mike’s slept with plenty of people before, but nobody who has such charisma and creativity and wit in conversation and can transfer them seamlessly to more physical activities.

Harvey makes Mike so happy. Mike doesn’t remember a time in his life when he woke up so excited for the day, and he knows it’s because Harvey’s waking up beside him, his usually perfect hair a scruffy mess, his brown eyes blinking open, still soft from sleep. Corporate law beats people down, some days it makes Mike want to never talk to another human again, but with Harvey? With Harvey, Mike remembers the spirit of generosity and goodwill that brought him to law in the first place.

* * *

It’s their first time in the office– in Mike’s actual office, glass walls and all, and though all the lights are out because it’s past two in the morning there’s still the thrill of risk. Over and over Mike tries to talk them out of it, but Harvey keeps reeling him back in with unfairly clever words and unfairly clever twists of his tongue until they close the deal.

When they finish Harvey collapses on top of him on his office couch, chuckling and nestling closer to Mike’s chest. Mike’s heart is so full of joy and gratitude he fears he’ll burst unless he shows it somehow.

“You’re still worried about tuition, aren’t you?” he murmurs, running his fingers through Harvey’s hair.

“Mm-hmm,” comes a groggy reply.

“Would you be okay if I helped out this term?”

Harvey’s head snaps up, suddenly wide awake. “‘That good?”

“What?”

He blinks. “I meant, ‘yes.’ Obviously.”

There’s a victorious glee in Harvey’s eyes, almost as if he’s gloating, though he can’t possibly expected this. But perhaps he could have. He’s such a smart, sweet, deserving young man, after all, and it makes Mike so happy to help him. It’s just the right thing to do.

* * *

They go on this way. Harvey delights Mike in every way, and Mike tries to express his gratitude with well-planned dates and thoughtful advice and carefully selected presents, which he gives gladly with no regard for the price. He keeps coming to Donna for help with reservations and sold-out tickets, and so he suspects that she knows that he’s got a special someone in his life. He’s not sure how complete her knowledge is until he asks her to reschedule a client dinner–

“Already done. I knew you have to see the new _Spiderman_ with Harvey.”

“You’re amazing.”

“And to prove it, I booked you four seats at the first showing. Two for you, two to keep the plebeians at bay.” As he goes to thank her, she puts up a hand. “No need, just have a good time with your sugar baby.”

She flounces out with a wink as he stutters, “He– he’s not my–”

Wait.

Mike always pays for dinner, and fine wine to go with it. He buys tickets to movies and shows; he got them an entire box at _Hamilton_ after Harvey joked about being the only person in the office who hadn’t yet seen it. He showers Harvey with random gifts, with signed baseballs and TV show box sets and rare jazz records. After they had a rousing debate on tie widths – Harvey claimed that Mike should join him in dressing like an adult and wearing wide ties– Mike bought him a slew of skinny Burberry ties for the fun of it. Last week he dropped eighty dollars on Star Trek cufflinks, just because he knew Harvey would laugh as soon as he saw them.

Incidentally, he’s paying Harvey’s tuition.

Mike collapses into his chair. All right, he admits, an outside observer might conclude that Harvey is his sugar baby, but that’s not the important thing. The important thing is that Harvey knows that’s not what he is. Surely he knows Mike would never want to use him, that Mike regards him as an equal in every way. Mike’s been on the lookout for signs that he’s been pressing too hard, and he’s never seen any–

But he’s played poker against Harvey, who might be the best damn bluffer Mike’s ever come across.

A feeling of dread settles into Mike’s stomach as he tries to convince himself their relationship was clearly consensual, even as he realizes that it’s anything but. He tried at every turn to give Harvey freedom, but with this much money in play the situation might have turned coercive regardless.

What has he done?

He closes his eyes and sighs. A moment later he drags himself out of his chair and texts Harvey, inviting him out to neutral ground, the coffee shop where they had their first date.

* * *

At the coffee shop Mike buys them both drinks— no sugar and a shot of vanilla for Harvey, just how he likes it. As he pays, one last stab of guilt hits, combined with an odd wave of nostalgia.

“Hey.” Harvey walks in as he brings the drinks to a table. “You wanted to see me?”

“I did.” Mike sits down and takes a sip of his cappuccino, attempting to compose his thoughts. Finally he asks in as neutral a tone as he can manage, “How do you see this relationship?”

Harvey’s eyebrows jump up. “I was wondering when we’d have the talk.”

The talk? Mike forces down another gulp of coffee to keep from interrupting.

“We have,” Harvey continues, “an extremely enjoyable arrangement.” He glances around the room, checking that none of their coworkers are close enough to hear.

“A business arrangement?” Mike murmurs.

“That’s a term for it, yes. And if you’re worried, I’m very good at keeping feelings out of the way.”

Mike nods, struggling to keep his voice steady as Harvey watches him intently. “We— I can’t keep doing this.”

“Oh.” Something shifts in Harvey’s expression, and suddenly Mike’s sitting opposite a poker player, not his lover. “So we’re having _this_ talk.”

“Look,” Mike says, the words tumbling out, “I’ll give you everything I promised. Hell, I’ll pay the whole year’s tuition, not just this term.”

“I appreciate that.”

Mike’s glad he accepted it so easily. After all, if Mike is just a way for Harvey to pay his bills then the best way to prevent nonconsensual sex is surely to just pay his bills without it—

“And I assume you want me to sign a NDA?”

What?

“What?”

Harvey shrugs. “I get that it’s hush money. This is a progressive firm, but I could still do plenty of damage—”

Mike sags back into his chair. “Jesus, Harvey, I’m not worried about blackmail.”

Harvey snorts.

“I’m not, I never was. There’s nothing for you to sign, and if you want to ruin my career then you can.” He sighs and leans forward, folding his arms on the table. “I just think you’re better than that.”

A funny mix of emotions flits across Harvey’s face. “Did you—“ He falls silent and tries again. “Why exactly were you paying for . . . everything?”

“Because you’re amazing.”

He smirks. “I know.”

“Not like that,” Mike retorts. “You’re brilliant, funny, and a hell of a lot kinder than you give yourself credit for. Now–" his voice gets smaller than he wants– “I thought we had something real, but even if we didn’t I would never want to manipulate you into sex.”

“You thought we had something real,” Harvey intones.

He nods, feeling comically foolish, as Harvey just stares at him.

Finally, Harvey shakes his head, eyes bright with something strangely like concern. “I . . . don’t think I’m the one who got manipulated here.”

“No,“ Mike immediately says, “no, _you_ shouldn’t feel bad about any of this, this is on me.” He gives a sad chuckle. “I really overestimated how attractive I could be to a guy like you.”

Harvey insistently doesn’t react, just throwing back the last of his coffee.

“Even if you never once cared,” Mike finally says, “it doesn’t matter. I’ll write you the check. Donna can bring it down.”

He looks at Harvey’s inscrutable poker face and can’t deduce a thing. All Harvey says is, “Sounds good.”

* * *

Mike looks up Columbia Law’s annual tuition and writes the number out on a check, just as he promised. He folds it and wraps it in another paper before sealing it in an envelope, just to make sure Donna can’t see through it, and he’s about to hand it over to her–

“You have a visitor.”

Mike looks up and sees Harvey at his door.

“Donna, could you–"

“Refrain from listening in? Sure, I have to go nag Louis anyway.” She rises from her desk and sweeps down the hallway.

“Harvey,” he says, trying to keep his voice from being utterly hollow, “how can I help you?”

Harvey sits down opposite him. “About that check–”

“I have it right here.” He slides it across the desk.

Harvey doesn’t take it. Instead, he tilts his head and thoughtfully looks at it, then at Mike. “Were you giving me the world just because you’re _that nice_?”

“. . . Yeah, I was.”

Harvey lets out a short laugh and drops his forehead into his hand. “Mike, you’ve got to understand something.”

Mike shifts forward in his seat, listening attentively.

“It’s easier for me if I’m not supposed to care, if I’m supposed to _not_ care. And I know you’re the most ethical lawyer in this firm, that’s why I came to you with the damn letter, I just . . . assumed we didn’t mean anything.”

“I get that,” Mike says. He understands how Harvey drew all his conclusions, they all make perfect sense–

“But you’re still wrong about something.”

“Yeah?”

“You said you overestimated how attractive you could be to me.” He quirks the side of his lip with a tiny smile. “If I actually stop to think about it, you didn’t.”

Mike leans forward. “What are you saying?”

“You said I can have the money even if I don’t care about you.” His smile grows as he asks in a near-whisper, “What happens if I do care?”

Oh.

“In that case,” he says, outright beaming at Harvey. “It’s still yours.”

“Good.” He grins and slides the check into his pocket. “Are we going out tonight?”

“Absolutely, if you want.”

“I do want. Pick some place cheap,” he says, rising to leave. Just as he opens the door he throws one last smirk back at Mike. “I’m paying.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to statusquo_ergo for the summary, for the baseball+jazz gift ideas, and for being a great sounding board!
> 
> I am trying to turn out three Marvey fics before I go tackle Chicago. This is the second!


End file.
